The present invention relates to a compact automatic developing apparatus for silver halide photosensitive materials of easy operation, further the chemicals used in the developing apparatus are stabilized so that the frequency of replenishment is reduced.
Silver halide photosensitive materials, which will be referred to as photosensitive materials or photographic materials hereinafter, are exposed to light and then subjected to the processes of development, desilverization, cleaning and stabilization. In the developing process, a monochromatic or color developing agent is used. In the desilvering process, a bleaching agent, bleaching and fixing agent or fixing agent is used. In the cleaning process, city water or ion exchange water is used. In the stabilizing process, a stabilization solution is used. A solution having the function of processing in each process is defined as a processing solution. Temperature of each processing solution is commonly maintained in a range from 30.degree. to 40.degree. C., and photosensitive materials are dipped in the processing solution so as to be processed.
In a common automatic developing apparatus for silver halide photosensitive materials, which will be referred to as an automatic developing apparatus hereinafter, the above processing is carried out when the silver halide photosensitive materials are conveyed into the processing tanks in which the above processing solutions are accommodated. In general, the automatic developing apparatus for silver halide photosensitive materials is defined as a developing apparatus including a developing section, desilverization section, cleaning section or stabilizing section, and drying section, and further developing apparatus includes a means for automatically conveying photosensitive materials successively.
In general, when photosensitive materials are processed in the automatic developing apparatus, processing solutions are replenished into the processing tanks so that the activity of the processing solutions can be maintained constant. This system is widely employed. Specifically, while a replenishing solution is appropriately supplied from a replenishing tank to a processing tank, the processing work is carried out. In this case, it is common that the replenishing solution to be stored in the replenishing tank is prepared in another place and replenished into the replenishing tank when necessary. When the replenishing solution is prepared, conventionally, the following manual method is employed.
Processing agents used for silver halide photosensitive materials, which will be referred to as photographic processing agents hereinafter, are put on the market in the form of powder or liquid. When a powdery processing agent is put into use, it is manually dissolved in a predetermined amount of water, and when a liquid processing agent is put into use, it is diluted with a predetermined amount of water since it is condensed. Usually, the replenishing tank is arranged on the side of the photosensitive material processing apparatus. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a relatively large space for the installation of the apparatus. In minilaboratories, the number of which is sharply increased in these days, the replenishing tanks are arranged in the automatic developing apparatus body for silver halide photosensitive materials. Also, in this case, it is necessary to secure a space for installing the replenishing tank.
In order to provide an excellent photographic processing performance, a replenishing processing agent is divided into several parts. For example, a replenishing solution of the bleaching and fixing solution for use in color photography is divided into two parts, one is a part of organic acid ferric salt which is an oxidant, and the other is a part of thiosulfate which is a reducing agent. In the process of preparing the replenishing agent, the dense part of organic acid ferric salt and the dense part of thiosulfate are mixed and a predetermined amount of water is added to the mixture. In this way, the replenishing solution is provided. Each part of the replenishing solution described above is put, for example, in a container made of polyethylene, and a plurality of containers are packaged in a bag, for example, in a corrugated paper box. This packaged containers are put on the market as one unit.
As described above, the aforementioned parts of the replenishing agent are formed into a kit. This replenishing agent is dissolved, diluted and mixed, so that a predetermined amount of agent can be prepared. Disadvantages of the above replenishing agent are described as follows: First, the replenishing agent of each part is respectively put into a container. Therefore, several container are required, and the number of the containers is increased so as to prepare one unit of replenishing agent. Therefore, a large space is required for storage and conveyance. The second disadvantage is disposal of waste containers. Recently, in Europe and America, there is a strong demand of preservation of the environment and saving of resources. In the field of photography, disposal of containers made of polyethylene causes a big problem. Polyethylene containers used for photography are inexpensive and convenient for storage and transportation, and further they are highly resistant to chemicals. However, polyethylene containers are not provided biodegradation properties. Further, when they are stocked and incinerated, a large quantity of carbonic acid gap is generated, which causes various environmental problems such as an increase in the temperature of the earth and acid rain. When a large number of polyethylene containers are stocked in the user's yard, problems are caused because they are piled in heap and large spaces are occupied, and further it is difficult to crush them since their mechanical strength is high. The third disadvantage is that the chemicals are very unstable. For example, a color development replenishing solution is prepared in the following manner. After a predetermined amount of water has been put into the replenishing tank, a condensed solution kit A containing a preserving agent is added and agitated in the water, and then a condensed solution kit B containing a color developing agent is added and agitated. After that, a condensed solution kit C containing an alkaline agent. Finally, water is added so that a predetermined amount of solution is prepared. In this case, several problems are caused. For example, when the solution was not sufficiently agitated or water was not put into the container by a careless mistake, crystals of the color developing agent tend to precipitate, and the precipitation stays in the bellows pump, so that the solution can not be appropriately replenished, which deteriorates the photographic performance and further the bellows pump is damaged. The condensed solution kit is not necessarily used immediately after the manufacture. In some cases, it is used after one year from the manufacture. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the color developing agent or preserving agent is oxidized, so that the performance of the solution is deteriorated.
It is known that the color development replenishing solution made of a condensed solution kit or powder causes some problems in the replenishing tank. For example, when the replenishing solution is not used over a long period of time, crystals are deposited on the wall surface of the replenishing tank, and further the replenishing solution tends to be oxidized and tar is generated. Depending on the preserving condition, for example, the color developing agent precipitates at low temperature. Due to the foregoing, the manufacturer specifies the preserving condition of the replenishing solution so that the condition can be maintained by the user.
The above problems caused when the condensed solution kit or powder is used to prepare the replenishing solution are not limited to the color developing agent, but the same problems are caused in the cases of a bleaching and fixing agent, bleaching agent and fixing agent. Different from the aforementioned method in which the condensed solution kit or powder is used to prepare the replenishing solution, another method is known in which the condensed solution kit is directly replenished. According to this method, the condensed solution kit is directly replenished into the processing tank using a supply means such as a bellows pump, and at the same time, a predetermined amount of water is independently supplied. According to this method, it is not necessary to prepare the solution. Since the replenishing solution is not made, no problems are caused in preservation.
However, even in the aforementioned method, many problems are caused, which will be described below. According to the method, the condensed solution kit is supplied. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a tank for the condensed solution kit, and it is also necessary to provide a pump for supplying the condensed solution kit. As a result, the dimensions of the automatic developing apparatus are increased. According to the conventional replenishing system, it is sufficient that one tank and one pump are provided for each replenishing solution, that is, it is sufficient that three tanks and three pumps are provided. As compared with the conventional replenishing system, the numbers of tanks and pumps are increased, and further a pump for compensating water is required.
Further, the condensed solution kit is disadvantageous in that crystals tend to precipitate at a position close to the discharge port of the replenishing nozzle. Since the supply accuracy of a bellows pump is not so high that the replenishing accuracy tends to deviate when a highly dense solution is replenished, and the photographic performance is lowered. Concerning the problem of the container, the number of used polyethylene containers in this condensed solution kit system is the same as that of the conventional replenishing system. Therefore, the same problems are caused.
In order to solve the above problems, when a dissolving section is communicated with the processing tank in which the processing solution for processing silver halide photosensitive materials is stored and the solid processing agent is supplied and dissolved in this dissolving section, it is possible to make the automatic developing agent compact, and it is also possible to eliminate the manual dissolving work. Therefore, the photographic performance can be stabilized in the processing system. Further, the number of used polyethylene containers is reduced, and the environmental pollution can be lowered.
However, since the processing agent supply section for supplying a solid processing agent to the automatic developing apparatus is arranged in the vicinity of the processing solution whose temperature is controlled, the processing agent supply section is placed in a condition of high temperature and humidity. Therefore, dew condensation occurs in the processing agent supply section, the dew condensation may be a cause of corrosion or electric leakage.
The solid processing agent is affected by humidity. Therefore, even if countermeasure is taken to prevent humidity, moisture is absorbed by the solid processing agent. As a result, the solid processing agent is denatured or deposited on other members, and can not be supplied appropriately.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above circumstances. The first object of the invention is to attain the following that, the processing agent supply section is capable of moving and it is easy to conduct maintenance on the processing agent supply section, and further it is possible to prevent corrosion and electric leakage caused by dew condensation. When the processing agent supply section is moved during the stoppage of the apparatus, the occurrence of dew condensation can be prevented, and the occurrence of corrosion and electric leakage can be reduced. It is possible to prevent the solid processing agent from absorbing moisture, and denature of the processing agent is prevented. Also, the processing agents are prevented from adhering to each other and to other members. The first object is further to appropriately supply the processing agent in this way. The second object of the invention is to attain that, when the processing agent supply section is moved, the processing solutions are not mixed with each other, and contamination is prevented. The third object of the invention is to attain that, the processing agent supply section is easily moved.